BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power-Chapter 95 - 94 – Bracelets of the Sky
"So that’s how it is..." Monali whispered. The girl sat in front of her—Jalja.
After becoming fully aware of the gap in power between herself and the princess, Jalja didn’t hide any information about the invasion.
Even so...
What she knew was nothing more than fragments.
She admitted that the princess’s own presence inside the sealed space had been a major weakness.
One that the alliance masters exploited after purchasing information about the space. No one knew the price they paid.
But they held nothing back in the invasion. Even the Properties Cube itself did not belong to any one of the factions.
That was the most important piece of information Monali managed to extract.
An unknown party—one Jalja knew nothing about—was the one who had sent the cube to them. Even the masters inside the space, including the Fourth-Rank Master himself, didn’t know its origin.
This information was extremely confidential. Only the faction leaders were aware of it.
The other thing the princess learned was that her blood—similar to her siblings’—would always serve as a path to track a master and their location.
That was how the three-faction alliance managed to enter the sealed space.
Immediately, Monali contacted me.
She explained everything quickly and clearly.
I already knew most of it from observing the battle...
But the final pieces made one thing clear.
Aside from the three factions, there were two other parties involved.
One of them was the master followed by Monali’s brother.
The other... was the one who provided the Properties Cube.
According to the Deception Beast, that cube was a unique item.
Only the greatest factions possessed something like it.
Which meant—
A fourth major faction was involved in the invasion.
"Listen," I said, raising my voice toward the Fourth-Rank Master.
His eyes were already fixed on me... ever since he learned there were ancient weapons here.
That treasure alone had made him ignore everything else, focusing entirely on striking a deal.
"What?" he replied.
"I can give you some weapons... in exchange for a withdrawal treaty and cooperation."
"So that’s it..." he smiled. "That means there really is a method—or an item—that lets you produce ancient weapons."
"What’s your answer?" I glanced at Louis and Joe. Their condition was worsening.
"If any of my subordinates are harmed... the offer is off."
He didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the battlefields.
Joe’s fight was about to escalate—just like Louis’s had.
Purple energy engulfed the Third-Rank Master with the snowy hair.
Even his hair began shifting... slowly turning purple.
In an instant, the violet color dominated everything.
Then—
"Venom Predator," the master whispered.
Purple vapor began pouring from his body, surrounding him like a suffocating cloud.
From within it, four smoky fangs crossed together.
Then, a massive dog’s head carved itself out of the mist.
A head without a body.
Its mouth opened—
And it exhaled that same foul vapor.
A suffocating, rotten stench burst outward.
Joe stepped back several paces—he couldn’t withstand it.
"You forced me to use my weapon..." the master snarled. "Prepare to pay with your life."
He raised his hand and shouted—
"Predator!"
In an instant—
The dog’s head lunged at Joe.
It was fast, with a long tail still tethered to the master’s body.
Like a whip unleashed.
It closed in—
The stench hit Joe violently. A wave of nausea surged through him.
He steadied himself and retreated.
But the head was faster.
Its jaws opened unnaturally wide—
Then—
Whoosh
A brutal bite clamped down on his armored shoulder.
It happened in an instant.
At first—
Nothing.
Then the damage revealed itself.
His right shoulder began turning into a rotten violet hue.
Then—
Cracks echoed.
The armor at the bite’s point... began to fracture and fall apart.
The head attacked again.
Joe increased his speed, retreating.
He glanced at his shoulder—the ivory was still crumbling.
He focused his accumulation energy, repairing it.
His eyes narrowed in anger.
The snowy-haired master laughed.
"Useless. Venom Predator prevents regeneration. Every bite has a price."
The battle intensified.
Joe fled—
The beast pursued.
Another hit—
Then—
Suddenly...
Joe noticed something.
Against attacks he couldn’t block...
The slowness of the ivory armor was fatal.
Within minutes—
His body was nearly exposed.
His entire right side... stripped of armor.
The beast lunged again—
Straight for the opening.
Its jaws sank deep into his flesh.
"Ha...?" Joe whispered in surprise.
No effect.
Not even discoloration.
He checked his internal accumulation—
Nothing.
No damage.
As if it were just harmless smoke.
Suddenly—
The master stopped.
He canceled the attack.
The vapor vanished. The dog’s head dissipated.
Purple energy wrapped around him again—
The gelatinous armor returned.
Joe focused.
He understood instantly.
Suddenly—
Dozens of sharp rods shot from the gelatinous armor toward him.
Joe turned, presenting his armored side—
Boom
The impacts thundered violently.
A pained murmur escaped him.
Joe... was hurting.
Given his nature, that alone meant the damage was severe.
He wasn’t someone who cried out easily.
If a sound escaped him—
It meant real pain.
Finally, the assault stopped.
Joe’s body was covered—
In cuts.
Any other person...
Would’ve fallen from half of them.
But he stood.
Blood covered his face.
He smiled.
A faint, almost unreal smile.
Amid those wounds...
It looked like madness.
"Is it time to surrender?" the snowy-haired master said. "I’ll respect your resilience. You won’t die."
Joe didn’t respond.
A light gleamed in his eyes.
"It’s time to go, my friend," he whispered.
Suddenly—
His axe began forming again.
It completed—
Then started fading.
"The others..." Joe murmured with regret.
"Their weapons become properties... but you, my friend... you never had a property to transform. All you have... is durability."
He paused.
"Useless... against this new weapon."
The axe vanished completely.
"Let me tell you something..." Joe’s voice rose.
"Let me show you... my true weapon."
He closed his eyes.
The ivory armor began to dissolve.
It turned into transparent white droplets—
Then—
They flowed to his forearms.
Two... then three ivory bracelets formed on each arm.
The blood covering his body—
Vanished.
His smile disappeared.
His gaze turned sharp... powerful... and sorrowful.
At that moment—
Joe completely abandoned his axe.
And in its place—
His new perfected weapon emerged.
"Bracelets of the Sky."
The Fourth-Rank Master’s eyes snapped toward him.
He analyzed again—
Then his smile vanished.
"Is he using an anti-scan?" he muttered.
He couldn’t identify the weapon at all.
The answer was simple.
Too simple for him to grasp.
Joe wasn’t using any anti-scan.
There was no flaw in the tool.
What the Fourth-Rank Master failed to realize—
Was that Joe was wielding a perfected weapon.
If a weapon’s rank exceeds the tool’s capacity—
It cannot be analyzed.
"So... your accumulation is fully restored," the Third-Rank Master said.
"But what’s the point? It won’t last."
Suddenly—
Dozens of sharp rods surged from his body again—
Rushing toward Joe.
Then—
Whoosh
A single thread.
Pure white.
Not wide.
Not bright.
Yet everyone saw it clearly—
Even the lowest-ranked fighters.
It moved slowly—
Then—
The rods reached it.
And vanished.
Everyone’s eyes narrowed.
The Third-Rank Master scoffed—but unease crept in.
He quickly pulled out a pouch—
Swallowed three pills.
His accumulation partially recovered.
He raised his hand—
Hundreds of rods launched at Joe.
They reached him—
The white thread moved—
All the rods disappeared.
At once.
Suddenly—
The master canceled his gelatinous armor.
Purple vapor returned.
The smoky dog bared its fangs—
And lunged at Joe.
The white thread moved—
Then—
The dog shrieked.
It was stopped.
In that instant—
The defense became clear.
A white net—like a fishing net—formed before the beast.
It held it in place.
Even though it was smoke.
Suddenly—
Another thread emerged from the second bracelet.
It shot forward—
Struck the beast—
And it vanished.
The Third-Rank Master didn’t move.
His eyes narrowed.
"Is... that a weapon?" he whispered uneasily.
"Are you surprised?" Joe whispered.
"This is what happens... when you face a weapon far beyond your own."
A mocking smile carved itself across his face.
Then—
A third thread of light emerged... from the third bracelet.
It looked just like the others.
Then it slowly moved toward the Third-Rank Master.
Suddenly—
The master reacted.
He retreated—fast.
The thread chased him.
It had been moving slowly...
But the moment the master tried to escape—
Its speed surged.
"Damn it!" he shouted.
The thread caught his leg—
Then began crawling like a serpent...
Binding him.
A sudden paralysis struck.
He couldn’t react.
The thread kept crawling—
Wrapping around his entire body...
Encasing him like a spider’s cocoon.
My eyes... could barely believe what I was seeing.
Joe’s new perfected weapon didn’t emit any noticeable energy or aura.
It was as if it were a custom-made weapon... or something ordinary.
Even ancient weapons displayed a powerful aura... but this perfected weapon did not.
Perhaps... because that perfected weapon... is far beyond our level in power.
Even the Fourth-Rank Master... seems unable to comprehend the weapon or its strength.
His expression and shock are the clearest proof of that.
Perhaps... I have a chance against him.
